The Oakland Café, my hangout for writing and drawing in the early 90’s, affected my life in many ways. I’ll mention just one at this moment: THREE LADIES IN THEIR EIGHTIES, a series of more than one hundred drawings I did there. I have a few of the drawings on our web site, and I look back at those ladies with affection. They were not living in the same world they grew up in, just as I, now seventy, am living in a totally changed world.
It’s sixteen years later now, the Oakland Café’s no longer there, and I doubt the three ladies are still around, doubt I’ll get to draw THREE LADIES IN THEIR HUNDREDS. But perhaps the ladies do live on through their words. And Marie Mellott and I will be performing some of their conversations at a Valentine's Day Performance in conjunction with The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Show at Walkers Point Center for the Arts. Here’s rthe beginning of the conversations:
WELCOME TO OLD AGE RADIO, TONIGHT PRESENTING TWO LADIES IN THEIR EIGHTIES, THIRD ONE NOT THERE
The time was the early 90's, the place was the Oakland Cafe , and the snoop, well, I was the snoop. I sat as close as possible to Prudence, Gladys, and Madge, and took dictation. They never seemed to notice me drawing them, never knew I used their conversations to form their faces. Eventually Madge came less and less often. She was, however, always there in spirit.
Prudence: I had a very lovely childhood. We had electricity, we had the first telephone in the neighborhood, my father was always ahead of everybody...
Gladys: you were very lucky.
Prudence: Well, you can thank the lord for your two loving daughters. I think it must be wonderful for a mother to have daughters she can be with. Of course my mother had my father, and that was the most important thing in her life. My brother was very pretty when he was young, very pretty, but he didn’t grow up to be so attractive... Most mothers talk about their children, my mother didn’t. One of the reasons, I figured out, was because my brother was always at the bottom of the class. I was on the top, he was on the bottom. If she talked about me, she’d have to talk about him. I don’t know where he got that trait of a lazy mind. Both of my parents were intelligent... And my mother always condoned his laziness. He just lived at home all his life.
Gladys: Free of charge?
Prudence: Oh yes. ...my brother never even gave us gifts..but we continued to give him presents...then once I looked at him and said, I didn’t buy you anything because I know you don’t believe in giving gifts...
Performance details:
POETRY, CHOCOLATE, AND WINE, Organized by ABEA
Walker's Point Center for the Arts, 911 W. National Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53204
Adults Only: Thursday, February 14, 7-9:30 PM
FEATURED PERFORMERS: Tanya Cromarte-Twaddle, Bobby Drake, Eric Jefferson, Marie Mellott, Carmen Murgia, and Suzanne Rosenblatt. Patrick Turner will play Blues Guitar
OPEN MIC
